Average year for bear hunters in Northeastern Pa.

Overall, it’s been an average year for bear hunters in northeastern Pennsylvania.

As for 4 p.m. Tuesday, the bear check station at Tobyhanna has checked 47 bears — 38 on Monday and nine Tuesday. Last year Tobyhanna weighed in just 15 bears on the first day.

“It’s actually very average,” Pennsylvania Game Commission land management officer Mike Beahm said of the numbers on the second day of the statewide three-day hunt.

The largest bear in the region checked in at 650 pounds (live weight) at the Tobyhanna site. The bear, Beahm said, was shot near Bear Creek in Luzerne County.

The second largest bear in the region as of Tuesday was checked in at Dallas where a 589-pound bear was brought in.

The northern tier of the state received about 3-4 inches of snow overnight and into Tuesday morning. That snowfall may have helped hunters Tuesday and the final day of the season on Wednesday.

There is no extended bear season in Wildlife Management Unit 3D this year.

“I think (the snow) benefited the hunters that stuck with it,” Beahm said. “It helps with visibility. If there are bears moving about, it’s a lot easier to see their tracks. Also, it helps in the efforts to recover a bear.”

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